Today in 1542 Katherine Howard, Henry’s disgraced 5th wife, was taken to the Tower of London by barge. About three months earlier Henry had received word that his wife wasn’t quite as pure as he had believed, and there were some dark secrets she was hiding. She was imprisoned at Syon Abbey during an investigation, and as more stories came out about a relationship with Culpepper, her fate was sealed.
The Royal Assent by Commission Act 1541 made it treason, and punishable by death, for a queen consort to fail to disclose her sexual history to the king within twenty days of their marriage, or to incite someone to commit adultery with her. This measure retroactively solved the matter of Catherine’s supposed precontract and made her unequivocally guilty. No formal trial was held.
When the Lords of the Council came for her she allegedly panicked and screamed as they manhandled her into the barge that would escort her to the Tower on Friday 10 February 1542, her flotilla passing under London Bridge where the heads of Culpeper and Dereham were impaled (and remained until 1546). Entering through the Traitors’ Gate she was led to her prison cell. The next day the bill of attainder received Royal Assent and Catherine’s execution was scheduled for 7:00 am on Monday 13 February 1542.
That’s your Tudor Minute for today. Remember you can dive deeper into life in 16th century England through the Renaissance English History Podcast at englandcast.com where there is an episode on Katherine Howard.
Suggested links:
Claire Ridgway on Katherine Howard
James Boulton on Tudor Queens
Episode 033: Renaissance Ghosts
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Heather Teysko is the creator, writer, and producer of The Renaissance English History Podcast, one of the longest running indie history podcasts, going since 2009. She's been writing about history online for over 25 years, since her first site on Colonial American history became number one in history on Yahoo in 1998. She writes books, created the original Tudor Planner (a yearly diary filled with Tudor history) and in 2019 created the world's first Tudorcon (you can "attend" online this year!). She has been passionate about Tudor England since she first read Alison Weir's The Six Wives of Henry VIII 20 years ago, and subsequently moved to London after college to spend her time immersed in Tudor history.